A Secret Life Undiscovered
by blindedbylife
Summary: In a small town everyone knows everybody. In a small town, there are no secrets. That is, until a new teacher comes along and he and a student fall hopelessly in love. Now there's a secret no one can know about, a secret that will be disastrous if not left undiscovered.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay. Well this story is being written by me and QueenoftheTaterTots. We would love to hear what you think of the story. If it's good or bad we want to know why. If you have any ideas we would be more than willing to try and put it into the story, or maybe even another story. So just tell us what you think. **

**Also, since there will be no special parts in the end of this story, QueenoftheTaterTots and I will be selecting a lucky number. And whoever is that number reviewer will have the next chapter dedicated to them. As to the first chapter, it will be dedicated to our other best friend who helped me get this idea for a story. How she did, I still have no idea.**

**Chapter One- This is for you Mary Berry **

**Chapter One**

**A Look**

**Max's POV**

"I know! I couldn't believe myself until I saw it, but it's true!" Nudge chirruped in her high, sugar-coated voice reserved only for small children, gossip, and puppies. _Oh. My. God, _I thought on the inside._ There is nothing worse, than this. _I watched in silent agony as my two best friends gossiped about the latest news in our small little border-town of Huntleigh, West Virginia. Flipping their hair. Throwing up their hands in wild gestures. Ugh. It made me sick to my stomach.

I think this time it was about this girl named Lissa Harling. Truly, the only thing bad about her was her personality. Wait a second, that means everything's wrong with her. Oops. The point was this time Lissa was supposedly dating some guy on the internet.

And how would I know this? Well, my dear readers, as it just so happens, we here in Huntleigh, have a straggling population of five hundred forty-six. Well, five hundred forty-seven counting the baby our English teacher – Mrs. Alan – is pregnant with. She's thinking of naming him Myles.

To get to the point, basically anything anyone knows is also known by everyone else. There were no secrets.

"What do you think, Max?" Nudge asked, her chocolaty eyes fixated on her newly painted nails.

"About?" I asked. I never really cared about what everyone else was doing. I simply didn't understand why I should worry about someone else's life when I had my own to worry about.

"About Lissa's scandalous life." Angel replied dramatically, rolling her tongue. Her curly blonde hair bounced as she stood up to go put away the nail polish. "Last chance, Max. Are you sure you don't want your nails painted? I could do purple."

I sighed. This was an argument we had constantly. "I am positive that I don't want my nails painted. I am _super_ positive I don't want them painted purple or any color like it."

Angel frowned and walked down the narrow wooden hallway to her room, placing the basket on the third shelf to the left of her oak door.

"So? What do you think about it?" Nudge chimed. _Why me?_

"I think that you should just leave her alone," I reasoned. "The choices she makes are hers and hers alone. Why does everyone else always need to know about them? How will it affect you if she decides to go off and be slutty with another guy?" I really did want to know.

Nudge leaned back her head and groaned. "Max! Why do you have to ruin all of my fun? You never let me talk about what I want to talk about, or let me go to Dylan and Sam's parties. I mean, how is that fair? You're not my mom. Why do I even listen to you? Ugh. That seriously needs to change."

"I do not purposefully ruin your fun and you know it," I retorted. "And as for Sam and Dylan's parties, we both know why I refuse to let you go. You listen to me because I'm your best friend in the whole world." I shot her an innocent I-have-no-idea-what-you-are-talking-about look.

She scowled, but didn't accuse me of anything else. Angle then decided to reappear from the hallway with her laptop.

"OMG!" The sixteen year old squealed. The blush of her apple cheeks popped from her fair complexion. "Look at the new senior homeroom teacher we get this year! Max, I am _so_ jealous! You might get him as a teacher.

"Let me see!" Nudge bounced excitedly. "Let me see!" Angel brought the computer over to her and the two shot me their most envious looks.

"So not fair!" the mocha-skinned girl cried, slapping me lightly on the arm. "Max! Now do you see what I mean about you not letting me have any fun?" I leaned over her shoulder to glaze my eyes over the red and white -clad webpage. "The new Huntleigh Cougars' High School 12th grade homeroom teacher" the title read in bold lettering.

The picture below caught my eye. On our school's trademark white background, the image depicted a fairly young man; broad, tan, and sculpted with dark features. Thick black hair, nearly black eyes, and – just to fit everything together – he was wearing a black shirt. Oh fun. They hired, yet again, a teacher that looked as if he would be perfectly fine with punching a two year old in the mouth if he dared to speak out of turn.

"He looks angry." I stated, furrowing my brow. As I looked up, I was met with wide-eyed faces from the two juniors who, just a minute ago, were about ready to pass out from excitement.

"He doesn't look angry," Angel said, amazed with how oblivious I was apparently being. "He looks hot!"

Okay. I tried – I really, really tried – but hearing her say that made my mouth peel back into a grin. The giggle that I tried to seal in my mouth released through my nose in one snort. I couldn't hold it in. Before I knew it, I was laughing; clutching my sides, and almost falling from my seat.

Angel and Nudge glared at me, but then decided to ignore my comments and gush about a teacher that they had only seen a picture of.

After I finally calmed down I just kind of listened to them drone on and on and on and on about how "hot" this new teacher was.

"It says that his name is Nicholas Carson," Nudge read off, eyes glued to the glowing computer screen. "He's from Tennessee and is twenty-three years old. Isn't that a little young for a teacher? Normally they just hire a bunch of old, cranky, smelly ladies. Like Mrs. Pierce. Do you remember her? I hated her. I mean this one time I was going to ask her a question and she came over and then as soon as I started talking she just walked away. I mean how rude is that? And then this other ti -" Nudge was abruptly cut off when Angel finally clapped a hand over her mouth. But since this is Nudge we are talking about, that wasn't going to stop her, so she just licked Angel's hand. Angel shrieked in disgust, waving one hand around as if it were on fire while using its match to smack Nudge lightly but repeatedly on the arm.

I rolled my eyes. How are these two my friends again? Ah well. Honestly though, I was just happy that school started tomorrow and it wasn't the middle of the summer. Because then, all I would hear is "hot" this and "hot" that.

I stuck out an arm in the middle of the two, breaking up the catfight. "I'm going home. When you are done talking, and only when you are done talking, are you allowed to call or text me." I gave each of them a hard look, just daring them to disobey me.

Nudge nonchalantly shoved my arm out of the way. "This is just what I was talking about, Max. You aren't my mo -" She clammed up as soon as she saw the stern look on my face.

"Bye Max." Angel said quietly, giving me a hug. I returned her sweet-smelling embrace and made my way down the hall to the door.

I know that Nudge says that I treat her like a child, but I don't mean to. I've known the two sisters since I was five. No, they weren't real sisters, but they were close enough. Mr. and Mrs. Walker adopted Nudge after they learned that they could no longer have children due to complications with their firstborn; a son they named Gazzy. But after they adopted Nudge, both parents found out that Mrs. Walker was four months pregnant with Angel. So even if I do treat them like children sometimes, I'm just trying to protect them.

_Hmm… Where did my keys go?_ I looked around, and much to my relief, found them in my back pocket. I unlocked my sleek black Lexis and turned on the air as soon as the engine had turned over. August heat sucked.

I pulled away from the huge red-bricked house while turning up the radio. Nothing good. I irritably turned it off, not caring about how hot it was. I already knew it wasn't cold outside.

My mind entered a fog after I pulled away from my friends' house. Senior year, the year of memories, the year of decisions. I tried to wrap my head around it on my way home. I couldn't believe that it was almost over. It seemed like it was just yesterday that I was walking down the halls freshman year. So timid and afraid and alone…even for me. Surrounded by human mountains. Burdened by whip-wielding teachers. Under so much pressure that you felt you were about to burst. Despite all this, I made it through. And, to my surprise, it was fun. What they say is true: Though it may seem to be the longest day ever while you're living it, when you looked back it was like a bolt of lightning. Flashing through so fast all you can do is be amazed by the pure beauty of it.

When I pulled up to my house, a house that I hated being in, I noticed no cars were parked in the driveway. Meaning no one was home…again.

After parking in my dad's spot just to piss him off, I slipped out of the car and looked around. The sun blinded me momentarily, but my sight was soon regained. As my rapidly shrinking pupils flitted around my surroundings, I saw a large moving truck materializing out of the rainbow-colored spots. It seemed to be pulling away. Then I remembered our neighbors had moved to Arizona last week, and we had newcomers.

I wonder who they are.

My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, screaming out its dastardly ringtone. _Oh, what now?_ After I found that annoying hunk of plastic, I accepted the call and slapped the earpiece to the side of my head. "What?"

"Well isn't someone just peachy," a familiar voice answered back. It was Angel. "Anyways, guess what?" Nudge interrupted. I really didn't want to play this game today.

"Just tell me," I snapped, immediately regretting it. "Sorry. What is it?"

Nudge and Angel seemed unfazed by my anger and started jabbering all at once, "That new teacher, Mr. Carson, he moved in right next door to you!"

My jaw just about dropped. As if my mouth was filled with dry cotton, I stole a tiny glance back over at the house. Sure enough – the summer sunlight beating down on his dark silhouette– there was the new teacher; surveying the lay of the land like a territorial wolf. My blood ran cold. His black eyes met mine, and a shudder passed through me.

**So how was it? Please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello. Thank you for the reviews we got. We greatly appreciate people taking their time to tell us what they thought of the story. This chapter is dedicated to lemonadeice1. Thanks again.**

**Chapter Two**

**A Talk**

**Max's POV**

Nicholas Carson, our new senior homeroom teacher, was still staring at me. I didn't know if I should go over to him and introduce myself or if I should go inside my house and pretend that I hadn't ever seen him.

The second option was definitely not fail-proof. I would never be able to forget how his eyes locked with mine and felt like my legs were going to collapse under me. It also wasn't going to work because he was walking towards me now.

His stride was calm and powerful. He shined with a demand for respect. His head was held high with pride. And then he was in front of me and he was introducing himself with his deep voice which was as smooth as leather and as sweet as honey.

"Hello," greeted the ominous young teacher. "I'm Nicholas Carson, but you can call me Fang." I blinked at him and finally snapped out of my trance.

I held out my hand. "Maximum Ride, but you can call me Max." I replied, surprising even myself of how calmly my voice carried out.

A small smirk appeared on his face. He took my small hand in his large one shaking it firmly. "Nice to meet you." Nicholas, I mean, Fang said in turn. His voice actually sounded genuine. Polite. Gallant, even.

I slipped my hand quickly from his grip. "Strange looks?" I asked, knowing all too well how…inquisitive people could be when a newcomer came to our itty-bitty postage stamp town.

Fang folded his arms across his chest nonchalantly. He cocked his head a little to the side like a confused puppy. "How did you know?" The man said more than asked. His voice was curious and maybe a little suspicious.

"I wasn't born here like most of the people who live here," I replied. "I've been new here too. Soon enough, you'll not have a single thing unknown about you." For less than an instant, I saw the whites of Fang's eyes flash. I got the hint that he was not a talkative person, nor a person that liked talking about what he felt inside.

The look passed as quick as it had come. "Really?" Fang asked, smirking again. His countenance showed disbelief that information spread so quickly. Well I had news for him. There were no secrets in Huntleigh.

I nodded my head and a wave of my blonde hair fell in front of my face. I flicked it back annoyed. "So I guess you're the new homeroom teacher, huh?"

"How did yo -?" Fang stopped himself, recalculating. "Oh yeah. No secrets." He continued. I offered a tiny, polite laugh.

"You learn fast." I said, smiling up at him and finally getting to look again into his eyes. His eyes, oh God. His eyes were beautiful. They weren't black like I had first assumed. They were a deep brown with gold flecks through the middle and some green towards the outer edges. Like gemstones. A hard, black outer-rim encircled itself around the edges.

"So what do you do?" Fang asked. I was hoping he wasn't going to ask that question. He seemed nice. I would like to get to know him a bit more. But I was a student, and it would be frowned upon for him and me to hang out if he was my teacher.

"I'm a senior." I said as coolly as I could. His face fell and my heart gave a painful twinge seeing his disappointment. Why? I have no idea. It was completely ridiculous that I should feel disappointment over not being able to hang out with a teacher from that hell-hole we call school. Yes, completely ridiculous.

Fang, with his head lowered, peeked at me through his shock of black wavy hair. Then he pulled himself up to his normal, prudish stature. "Then you should address me as Mr. Carson while school is in session," He stated. Maybe it was just me, but his voice didn't sound as polite or as happy as it had earlier. "I wouldn't want you getting in trouble."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I replied.

"I'm always right." Fang said back with an impish smile stitched onto his face. I don't know what it was, but something about it made my heart flutter. Ugh.

I was about to comment when my cell phone rang blasting out what people like to call "The World's Most Annoying Ringtone." I sighed and pulled it out of my pocket. And when I looked at the caller ID I think I almost fell over from shock, but Fang's hand grabbed my elbow. His touch sent sparks up my arm.

Reclaiming myself, I pressed the "answer" key and slapped the phone to my ear. "What?" I snarled. "What could you possibly want, _Mom." _I hissed the last word, my voice like nails on a chalkboard.

Pressing the phone to my chest, I looked at Fang and apologized with my hands. I couldn't help it. I had to take this call. The young man just shook his head and signaled that it was fine.

"Well Maximum, I just wanted to inform you that I will be coming back home this Sunday," My mother's crackled voice said through the earpiece. A startled breath left my mouth. She was coming back? After five years?

"No," I said, jaw clenching. "You're not coming here. You are never coming back. Ever. This isn't your home anymore." My voice shook and feelings I had suppressed so deeply made their appearance once again.

"Maximum, you are _my_ daughter!" Oh great now she was screaming. I held the phone away from my ear and rolled my eyes at Fang. "You will not tell me what to do! Do you hear me?"

"I am _not _your daughter," I enunciated. "You _had_ a daughter five years ago, but you left. Don't come back here. No one wants you here." I was seething. Who was she to tell me what to do?

"What has Jeb been teaching you?" Her voice sounded startled more than angry when she asked the question. Probably was too. How smart could you possibly be if you thought that after leaving for five years you would be accepted back with open arms? Obviously you weren't that bright.

"Jeb has taught me everything. Including the fact that you, my dear mother," I had to hold myself back from laughing. "Are an untrustworthy bitch that needs to descend back to the seventh layer of hell. He also advised me to tell you that it wouldn't be a bad idea to stay there this time."

I heard her voice rise again and ended the call. For good measure I took the battery out of my phone. It was then that I realized Fang was still here and was looking as uncomfortable as ever.

"Sorry about that." I forced myself to look him in the eyes. "She needs to learn to back off."

Fang furrowed his eyebrows and his gemstone eyes shined. "She's your mother," He said darkly. "You shouldn't treat her so badly. She deserves your respect."

I looked down at my shoes, chewing my lower lip. I didn't even bother to nod. He obviously didn't understand how many problems she had caused. He didn't know how badly it hit me when she left and Dad had to tell me that she wasn't coming back. He didn't know that I am still going to see a psychiatrist once a month for refills on depression medication. He didn't know.

Before I could stop it, everything just came bubbling out of me. "No. She used to deserve my respect. That was until she screwed Dad and me over. She deserves nothing now." I glared at him, my eyes daring him to argue.

"Don't you think that's a little bit too harsh?" Fang said in his same flat tone. My hand instinctively rubbed the inside of my arm where thousands of tiny scars marked the pain I had gone through. Fang's eyes caught the movement and he raised an eyebrow, but I shook my head in response.

"No. If anything, I'm being kind to her," I said. "I could do much worse." My mind wandered. I was being nice. I could make her feel all the pain that I did.

Fang opened his mouth to speak again, but my dad's car pulled into the driveway. "Max. You're in my spot." He shouted to me from the car after parking. Through the crinkles of his white-toothed grin, I saw how his eyes drooped slightly and knew that my mother had called him too. Sliding out of the car, my father clapped the door closed and made his way to our porch.

"Yep. And you'll let me stay there because you love me." I reply with an almost innocent smile. He sighed and nodded his head, mumbling something about me using his love to my advantage.

Suddenly, he turned his attention to the young man at his right. "You must be the new teacher. Nice to meet you. I'm Jeb Ride." Jeb extended his hand and Fang returned the gesture.

"Nicholas Carson." Fang looked relaxed, but I saw the slight tightening of skin around his eyes and the way his teeth mashed together beside his lips.

"Sorry about Max harassing you." I rolled my eyes. Of course Dad would say that. "I hope she didn't ruin your day."

"No. Not too much, anyway." Fang cocked his head again and winked at me.

"Why don't you join us for dinner?" my father said, fishing his hands deep into his pockets. "I'm sure you're hungry after unpacking all day."

No. I don't want him to stay for dinner. Damn Jeb and his politeness.

Fang didn't help matters, either. "That would be great," the dark-haired man replied graciously. "Thank you."

I let out a tiny, discreet sigh. So let hell begin.

**How was it? Please review. It really means the world to us.** **If you don't like it, don't review. But if you want this story to continue it would be a good idea.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey. Sorry this hasn't been updated in a while. The past few weeks have been really hard for me and I'm trying to get ready for school. I want to warn you guys now that updates are going to be rare. Maybe once a month, maybe not even that. Both of us are going to different schools this year and this is an incredibly important year for us. Please don't drop this story if it's only updated every two months. I would love to say that we're the writers who put our stories before anything else, but for the time being we can't be. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**A Touch**

I fidgeted in my seat across from Fang. Beneath me, the old cherrywood dining chair emitted a tiny groan. I winced. Dad had said he would start dinner as soon as he got out of the shower, but I truly wasn't sure if it would be possible to wait much longer.

Was Fang nice? Yes. Did I feel comfortable around him? Also yes. Did I want him sitting in my house and eating dinner with us? Absolutely not. No way in hell.

Gently, the dark-haired man picked up a fork, twanging its four pointy teeth with a steady thumb. Once. Twice. Three times. Fang looked up. "Why don't you go start dinner?" he suggested, noting my unease with calm eyes. My mind immediately scoffed at the idea.

"Uh…no." _Not a great idea,_ I added in my head.

Fang's broad shoulders rose and fell nonchalantly. "Don't you normally cook?" The man asked. This time my scoff was verbal, and it earned me a critical glance.

I looked down, but Fang held the gaze with unmoving eyes. "I think your father would enjoy being able to relax after his day at work." He grumbled in a low baritone.

I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling. My cooking would not be relaxing to my father. When my mother left, I had been young and Jeb had made the meals. But when I was seven, I decided to surprise him for father's day. Long story short, I succeeded in the "surprising him" part…but I also succeeded in setting half of our kitchen ablaze. Since then, I hadn't been allowed in the kitchen without supervision. I refused to argue about it either. Last time I went in there alone, the toaster caught on fire. I wasn't even using it!

"Well, why _won't_ you cook dinner?" Fang pressed.

_Ding, ding, ding!_ That's the question he should have asked first.

"Two words," I said, finally raising my eyes. "Fire. Hazard." I ended with a dramatic point to myself.

"You can't be that flammable." He replied, one end of his mouth curling up into a smirk. In his smile, though, I saw he was a bit unsure if my statement was true.

Okay. He asked for it. Shaking out the stiffness in my legs, I stood up and walked around the table to the talk oak bookcase behind Fang's chair. The young man didn't turn his head, but followed my every step with his dark marble-like eyes. Using one hand to hold my balance on Fang's bar stool, I reached up to the fifth shelf to grab the leather picture album that hadn't been touched in years.

The nostalgic scent of leather binding filled my nostrils. I used the flat palm of my hand to shave off the inches of dust from the cover, and set the book in front of Fang. He took a vague interest, as his hand rose up to rest on the surface of the table just next to the book. Opening the cover with a weary creak, I started flipping through pages. So many frozen memories plastered in slick pockets of flimsy plastic. Being me, I forgot the task at hand, and my eyes studied each picture carefully; trying to remember where we had been or what I had been doing.

I smiled slightly when I saw the picture of my dad and me at the fair when I was nine. I had run off that day to go get a balloon and had forgotten to tell him where I was going. There had been so many people. One thing I remember for certain that day was the eyes of the strange teenager that had helped me find my dad again.

The boy that had helped me must have been about fifteen. But the only characteristic I really remembered was how dark his eyes had been. I had barely been able to distinguish the pupils from the irises.

"That was a fun day for me," I said to myself more than to Fang. Something along the line of a chuckle escaped from my chest. "I got lost and my dad was about ready to kick my ass." I snapped myself out of the memory and looked to Fang for a reaction. He'd been sitting there awful quietly. Suddenly, Fang's eyes blinked in surprise as he studied the picture.

"…That was you?" His voice was still calm, but his eyes were burning with questions.

_What?_

My heart hopped in my throat. I swallowed it. "The little girl in the picture?" I managed to state flatly. "Yeah. That's me." His question confused me for a few more seconds before the neurons in my brain finally clicked two and two together.

"You… _You_ were him?" My cheeks burned as what I was saying sunk in. "Wow. Um… Thanks."

Fang smiled again and looked up at me. As my eyes locked with his, I slowly returned the smile and felt more lava rushing up to my face. "No problem." he murmured.

Without warning, the man's hand floated up to brush strands of my blonde hair out of my face. My heart was beating at a hundred miles per hour. But instead of pulling his hand away, as the last few tendrils were tucked behind my ear, Fang let it rest on the surface of my cheek.

Before I knew it, I'd let my head rest in his hand, and I realized how calm I felt. I'd only known Fang for a few hours, and already, I felt safer with him than anyone else.

Sparks tingled along my cheekbone and down my neck as he brought my head closer to his. His cool breath hit my face in waves of mint. But it wasn't overpowering smell. It seemed to fit him perfectly.

I leaned closer, but once we were close enough that I could only make out his eyes, I realized what I was doing. I quickly pulled away, feigning interest in the almost forgotten picture album.

My shaking fingers stumbled through the next few pages as I was trying to ignore Fang's stare, which had begun to burn holes in the side of my face.

I cleared my throat, shattering the silence. "Here," I whispered, pointing to the picture of our kitchen after my 'surprise'. "This is why I _don't _cook."

Fang tore his gaze from my face to look at the picture. His eyes widened in shock, flipping from me to the picture as if he was watching a ping-pong match. "_You _did that_ that_?"

My smile taut, I nodded my head in embarrassment and closed the album. "Uh huh."

"Ah," Fang offered as a reply.

Jeb's voice echoing off the kitchen walls gave me a start. "So, what shall we have for dinner tonight, Maxie?" He announced with over-the-top grandeur. I groaned at the nickname and shrugged my shoulders.

"What do you want?" I asked Fang, swiveling my head in his direction.

The dark-haired man looked up at me with mischievious eyes. "Food."

Rolling my eyes, I translated the statement back to Jeb. "Whatever, I guess."

Dad gave a slight nod and padded his way to the kitchen. Leaving Fang and I alone. Again.

**I understand if this chapter sucked. Please review. This will most likely be the last update of this story until November. We are so sorry, but our asses will be kicked from here to Neptune if our grades aren't supreme. PLEASE REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello fellow readers,**

**We're afraid we come with some upsetting news. This story is going to be continued so don't worry about this story no longer existing if you like it. School has started and this year is very important. We have to do well. We tried, we really did, but it just wasn't possible for us to get one more chapter up before the school year started. So here's what's going to happen: the next chapter will be posted at latest on November 25. Updates aren't going to be very often for the next nine months though. Sorry, and I hope you guys all have good school years. Please review to this author's note with any questions or thoughts. Thanks.**

**-blindedbylife and QueenoftheTaterTots**


	5. SorryAgain

So…..um…hi. I know it's been a reeeeeeaaaaaalllllyyyyy log time sine we updated and unfortunately it's just another author's note. This story and any other unfinished storied are not being discontinued, but put on hold. We have tried writing the new chapters but there just isn't enough time. So when the summer comes around you can expect updates but not now. Sorry you guys. Happy holidays and happy new year. Hope you've had a better few months than we have. Love ya's.


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